Reflection
by heartlandiansoisle
Summary: Georgie discovers new side of herself with Jade's help.
1. Chapter 1

Georgie felt like her body was only there to hold her heart in as she watched the pictures on her laptop screen. The organ was pounding so fast that she could hear it in her ears. The funniest thing was that she had not done any physical activities for hours because this was her checking her Facebook notifications after she had done her homework, so the only reason why her heart was going crazy were the pictures she was seeing.

What she was browsing through were Samantha's uploads from her birthday party last weekend which Georgie herself had not gone because according to Lou it was "for the big girls" and she was not one of them even though she was already 16 years old.

Her eyes looked at the photo where Samantha was kissing one of her friends - who was a girl. Georgie knew her old team mate from Extreme Team wasn't seeing anyone, but she had never even thought about the possibility that she might be into girls instead of boys and that might be the reason why she wasn't in a relationship. Something about that made Georgie feel funny and she wasn't sure why.

But when she scrolled down and read people's reactions, she wasn't sure if Samantha was into girls after all since all of the comments made it seem like this was some kind of joke.

 _"Omg, LESBIANS! Haha!"_

 _"HOT HOT HOT"_

 _"how drunk were u?!"_

 _"you know your mom can see this, right?"_

Something about the comments made Georgie feel different, almost angry or annoyed, and she couldn't explain why that was either. She looked at the photo again, wondering what had crossed in Samantha's mind when she had taken the picture and then decided to post it. Was it just a joke to her too?

"Hey, kid," Jade's voice startled Georgie all of a sudden. Georgie slammed the laptop shut and turned around. "What?" her friend looked confused about her reaction.

"You scared me!" Georgie explained, sighing. "I thought you were Lou."

Jade started grinning mischievously. "Were you hiding something…? What was it? Show me!" she insisted, walking toward her and leaning on Georgie's table when she turned back to her computer.

"It's nothing…" Georgie tried. She might have been okay with Jade just seeing her browsing through the photos, after all it was just her friend's pictures, but now her reaction somehow made it worse.

"Well, it must be _something_ since it made you react like that when you thought I was your mom," Jade replied. "Come on, we're friends. Your secret is my secret."

"It's not a secret, I just didn't want mom to get a wrong idea," Georgie said, feeling her temples getting red as she pulled the laptop's top back up and showed Jade what she had been looking at. "Just pictures from Sam's party from last weekend."

"Looks like she had fun," Jade said, turning around so she could stand beside Georgie and get a better look. "Were you there?"

"No way; my mom said it was not appropriate for me. You remember how she flipped about that time when I was going to go to Jasper with Sam and her friends," Georgie reminded. That had been a disaster as she had kept that a secret, but then Lou had found out. This time she had figured she could just ask as she was few years older now and more responsible. Still, she had not been allowed to go. "Imagine if she had seen this… She would have never let me go anywhere again."

"Why? They are just kissing? It's not like they are doing drugs or something," Jade scoffed. "Who hasn't done that…"

"Wait…" Georgie furrowed her brows and looked at her friend's face that was close to hers as she had basically took over the laptop to look at the rest of the pictures. "Do you mean… you've done that too?"

"What?" Jade looked at Georgie. "You mean, kissed a girl?"

Georgie nodded.

"Uh, yeah, many times."

Jade said it so casually that it left Georgie stunned. She had never thought of that about her friend and it almost made her feel like she didn't really seem to know Jade that well after all even though they were best friends.

"I'll take it you haven't?" Jade guessed.

"Well, when would I have?" Georgie responded, not only because it was an absurd thought but also because she couldn't believe Jade even assumed something like that about her. I mean, why would she? Not only did she know about her dating history, she also knew that she had only shown interest into boys. "Adam was my first kiss and… yeah, Clay's cousin kissed me too, but… that's it."

"I guess the opportunity just hasn't presented itself," Jade figured, shrugging.

"You mean to say that all the girls have kissed other girls?" Georgie had hard time believing that. She doubted that Amy or even Lou had kissed other girls in their lifetime.

"Well, maybe not all the girls, but a lot of girls, probably," Jade said, returning to her place on the edge of the table as she crossed her arms thoughtfully. "I mean, it's like a rite of passage these days."

"Why would girls kiss other girls if they're not into girls?" Georgie had hard time believing it. "I mean, boys don't kiss other boys just for fun, do they?"

"Well, boys are afraid of things like that. I feel like girls are more open to showing their feelings and like to have to fun. It doesn't always have to be so serious, you know," Jade explained her point of view. "And besides, how do you even know you only like boys if you only kiss boys?"

Georgie had not thought about that. She had just always sort of thought that girls were supposed to like boys and that's who they were meant to be with. And kissing Adam had been okay and she had even felt something when she had kissed Wyatt, so surely that meant that she was into boys.

"But… you've been with boys, so…" Georgie stuttered. "I mean, you like boys, so why would you kiss girls…?"

Jade grinned a little because of Georgie's naivety. It was kind of adorable to her how her friend was only just starting to question about these things. "Well, sometimes it's for fun, but you do know you can like both boys and girls, right…?"

Georgie blushed again as she was beginning to realize new things about Jade. "You mean… you like… both?"

"Yeah," Jade shrugged. "I mean, why not. If I'm attracted to someone, why should the gender matter, you know?"

Again, Jade stated it so casually, that Georgie wasn't sure what to say or what to do. "I didn't know about that… About you…"

"Well, it's not like I go to people and introduce myself; "Hi, I'm Jade and I'm bi-sexual," Jade laughed a little. "It doesn't define me. It's just part of who I am."

Georgie needed time to process this, but she struggled to come up with something to say.

Jade noticed that for Georgie, this chat had reached an end, so she changed the subject. "Anyway. You said you needed help with exercising Trouble, so… are we going?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm done with homework, so… we can go," Georgie said, closing her browser and then getting up from her chair. "I was thinking we could go on a trail ride. I'll take Phoenix, you'll take Trouble."

"Sounds good," Jade said and started walking to Georgie's door.


	2. Chapter 2

After a little spur at the field, both Georgie and Jade asked their horses to slow down so they could line up to the path way that would lead them to the forest.

"Trouble's got some energy!" Jade commented when Georgie went first with Phoenix and Trouble almost bumped into his equine friend's bum. She had to hold him back a little to create space between them.

The girl in front of her looked back on her saddle and smiled.

"I think he's enjoying getting a little break from trick-riding," Georgie said, "we've been training hard so we can impress Natalie. She's looking into a new headliner now that Samantha is with the older girls, and I really want to beat Olivia."

"How's the training going then?" Jade asked.

"It's going well. Amy's been helping me," Georgie replied, "but the horses get a bit bored of it after a while, because it can get kind of repetitive. That's why I decided it was time for a trail ride."

"Well, I'm happy to help you whenever I can," Jade offered. "It's actually kind of nice to be able to stay in the saddle for more than six seconds, for once."

Georgie hummed at Jade's comment. She was a daredevil and liked speed and the adrenaline that it brought with it, but she could never do what Jade did with the rodeo school. It was funny to think that once upon a time she had had to teach Jade to ride so she could take part of the rodeo scene and impress some boy. Now she was a natural with horses and kicking the boys' asses in bronc riding - and the guy she had tried to impress was no longer important to her as he had turned out to be a jerk.

There had been also another guy Jade had gotten competitive with; Clay. They had briefly dated, even if they had been at loggerheads all the time before that. Not too long after they had begun going out, had they already broke up. It had not really come as a surprise for Georgie as both Jade and Clay had too much temperament for things to ever work for the long-haul.

"You've heard from Clay?" Georgie asked casually.

The guy had said he'd be back again at spring - and now was spring - and he had wished to pick up where they had left of with Jade, but she had dumped him after he said that. Still, Clay and Jade getting together had been so surprising in the first place that Georgie wouldn't have been surprised if he had gotten back and would have somehow found a way to sweep Jade off of her feet again.

Georgie wasn't really familiar with the details because she didn't like talking about Jade's relationships with her - maybe she was fearing she'd lose her friend again if Clay ever showed up. Now that she too was single after breaking up with Adam, Jade's role as her friend was bigger again.

"Thankfully, not," Jade scoffed. "If he knows what's good for him, he'll stay in Texas."

"So, I guess that means no hope for reconciliation...?" Georgie asked carefully.

"No way. Shouldn't have gotten involved with him in the first place..." Jade could have almost shuddered from the thought of him now. "Always trust on your first impressions, kid."

Georgie pursed her lips together, wondering if she should say anything, but before she knew it, the words already came out. "You don't have to call me a kid anymore. I'm sixteen now."

"Well yeah, maybe so, but... what else am I gonna call you? It's your nickname, isn't it?" Jade said, clearly fond of it because it was one she had picked for Georgie and used for years now with nothing but affection in her tone.

"Yeah, but I'm not a kid anymore," Georgie said, evidently bothered by it.

Jade could tell that for some reason Georgie didn't like it, so she wasn't going to push it. Maybe it was part of her growth, getting rid of embarrassing nicknames, and she could respect that even if it meant that she had to let the name go.

"My dad used to call me peanut when I was little," Jade suddenly recalled now that she got into thinking about embarrassing nicknames. "Huh... Can't remember when that stopped."

There was something nostalgic about remembering that, even though Jade didn't really look back a lot of things with her father with that same feeling. He had his new, more important family - and probably another "peanut", too.

"You can call me whatever you want," Georgie said then because she had liked the fact that it had been a word Jade had picked for her, she just didn't like what it implied. "Just not... kid, anymore."

"Okay, well... let me think about it, okay?" Jade replied. She had not expected to be picking up a new nickname for Georgie, but now that she was, she wanted it to be good. "But first..." she said when they rode to another field from the woods, "I'll race you to that tree."

"Which tree?" Georgie asked, looking around. There were many trees to pick from and none of them looked that different from another to be special enough to be picked. But while looking, she could hear Jade clicking her tongue and giving Trouble a signal to go faster so they could get a head start. "Hey! That's cheating!" she shouted before she gave Phoenix's sides gentle kicks so they could follow.

Georgie heard Jade giggle evilly when she started reaching them and it was the perfect soundtrack to this type of moment; she almost felt like flying as the wind kept rattling her hair and the rhythm of Phoenix's gallop pulled her with it while she kept going toward the unknown.

They exchanged glances when they were side by side, both having big grins on their faces as they were both very competitive and wanted to be the first. But at the same time, they both knew that in the end, it wouldn't matter who would win as it was about having fun and nothing else.

After a while, it was time to slow down. They both pulled the reins and got their horses to trot and then eventually cool off.

"I won!" Jade declared happily.

"What are you talking about? Clearly, I won," Georgie tried, out of breath even though Phoenix had done most of the work, but the excitement and the warmth of the spring day was making her body overheat.

"Okay, the way you caught up..." Jade said, catching her breath as well, "you impressed me. But let's call it what it is; a tie."

"Alright," Georgie agreed. "I can live with that. Especially because you cheated and didn't even give me any instructions!"

Jade crinkled her nose as she admitted that Georgie was right. "I knew you'd win if I wouldn't play dirty. Even if Trouble is fast, Phoenix is like a lightning."

"You'll win next time..." Georgie promised, but immediately added, "maybe." She had a mischievous smile on her face as she wasn't to going to make it easy for her.

"Ha!" Jade laughed, steering Trouble down a little hill as Georgie followed. "Hey, why don't we go the little stream and let the horses drink?" she suggested as the little creek opened in front of them. "I could walk around a little, too."

Even if she loved the rodeo scene, Jade had to admit that trail rides were something she liked more than she realized. Being surrounded by the beauty of Alberta still took her breath away sometimes. She had never thought she would come to like the place and would always call Toronto her home, but here she was, living the cowgirl life and loving every single second of it.

"Yeah, sure. The boys love to play in the water," Georgie said.

She had taken Phoenix and Trouble on trail rides here before with Amy and they usually took a little break by this creek. From the way Phoenix lifted his head and made his steps quicker, Georgie could tell that the horse was already looking forward to it. It made her smile as there was something adorably predictable about horses.

"Yeah... That's right. We'll take a break, boy," she talked to the horse, petting his neck at the same time. The horse's ears turn to listen to him, and she could sense how Phoenix understood what she was saying. It was a connection unlike she had ever experienced and something she never thought she could have.


	3. Chapter 3

The girls lead the horses to the water and loosened the reins so Phoenix and Trouble could stretch their necks to drink the water under their hooves.

Georgie closed her eyes so she could focus on the warmth of the sun rays that were helping the nature getting greener every day. Meanwhile, Jade lowered herself from the saddle to the shallow stream and tied the reins loosely on the saddle so Trouble wouldn't trip over them and hurt himself.

"I can't wait for the summer," Jade said, walking toward the little island between two streams that surrounded it. "Now that you have your licence, we can do more stuff."

Georgie opened her eyes when she heard Jade talking and looked at her, tilting her head. "What kind of stuff?"

"I don't know - road trips, parties..." Jade listed. "You basically have no parental supervision anymore with Peter in Vancouver and Lou always in New York, not to mention my mom can't do anything about my life either, so let's make most of it!"

"Think you're forgetting Jack..." Georgie said, getting down from the horse too. She tied to the reins to the saddle horn. "Lou might be strict, but Jack's even worse."

"But he trusts me, he'll know I'll take care of you," Jade responded with a grin. "I mean, when have I ever let him down?" She sat down onto an old log that served as a good seat so she could take off her boots.

"Uh, maybe when you stole his truck?" Georgie suggested with a hum. It had been years ago, but Jack had been furious about underage Jade stealing his truck while he was talking to Tim and Jade's mom at the fishing cabin. Somehow Jade had got Georgie involved too and funnily enough, that was how this friendship had all gotten started - even thought it had not been an immediate friendship from the go. "Talking about first impressions," she made a nod to what Jade had just said about Clay.

Jade sighed a little. "Okay, but that was, like... different. I was just being a rebel because I was going through a lot, and my mom had forced me to that fishing cabin with this strange guy."

It was weird to think now that Tim was basically like a father figure to her even if her mom and him were no longer involved.

"Aren't you still a rebel?" Georgie said, walking up to Jade to see what she was doing.

"A little, but hey - I've still matured a bit," Jade pointed out. "Trust me, it'll be a blast. We'll be like Thelma and Louise - minus the driving off a cliff."

"What are you doing?" Georgie had to ask when Jade removed her socks.

"I was thinking I could put my feet to the water, cool them off," Jade explained. "My feet have been confined to these boots for months now, I want to feel the nature under them again - that's how you experience spring the best. Back in Toronto I just changed my boots to sneakers when the summer approached, but you can't do it here. So, I'll be doing this."

"Okay... but you gotta be careful with the rocks", Georgie said, knowing too well how one could cut their feet easily to the sharp corners. "You can get hurt in those stream beds. Once Phoenix got a stone bruise and he was limping for days."

"I'll be careful, Mom," Jade commented as she got up and walked towards the stream. Georgie hummed, but figured at least the nickname wasn't making her feel like a child, though she doubted it was the one that was going to stick anyway.

Jade put her toe to the water, taking the temperature. "Ooh, that's cold!"

Georgie figured Jade would just walk back to her boots and give up, but then again, she should have known that Jade was fearless and cold water wasn't going to stop her. Instead of backing down, Jade stepped to the water and let her feet soak in the stream.

"Okay... After the initial shock, it's actually starting to feel kind of nice," Jade reviewed. "I can just feel my blood rushing. Come on, you should try it too."

"No, thanks," Georgie said, sitting down on the log, still thinking about what Jade had said about experiencing the summer together.

It sounded kind of nice, but she wasn't sure how much she could be doing, even with the licence. Ever since coming to Heartland, Georgie had been acting kind of reckless, but was now trying her best to change that behavior, so Jack, Lou and Peter could trust her better. She was slowly making progress, so she didn't want to ruin that now.

But at the same time, Georgie knew that the summers were meant for having fun and she did like doing things with Jade, so she wasn't going to be too strict about it all.

Besides, the training with Extreme Team was going to be stressful, so she would need something to help her relax when she wasn't rehearsing.

"Suit yourself," Jade said. She balanced herself from rock to rock, while the horses were cooling off beside her. Her bronc riding skills were put to good use as she skipped from one surface to another. But soon her foot slipped as she got on a slimy rock. "Woah!"

"Jade!" Georgie yelled, getting up from the log and running toward her friend to make sure she was alright. "Are you okay?"

"Owh... Think I'll be getting one of those stone bruises... to my butt", Jade complained as she tried to get up. Thankfully, the water had not been shallow, but it was enough to make her clothes wet. "Ah, great. Now I'm all wet."

"Come on, I'll help you," Georgie said, offering her hands. She got Jade back on her feet and they walked to the little island together. "Did you get hurt? Are you bleeding?"

"I'm fine," Jade informed her. "The good thing about falling off a horse so many times is that my body knows how to prepare itself for the fall; you just gotta relax and hope for the best. If you're too tense, you'll just get more hurt."

"So, you're okay?" Georgie asked again, trying to get the answer from Jade instead of listening to her babble. She didn't seem too bothered, but Georgie's heart was still racing as it was recovering from the alarmed state.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jade repeated. "But I think we should get back to the ranch. I can't ride in these wet clothes too long or my skin will get irritated from the friction. Not to mention, if we go to the woods, I'll freeze."

"Okay," Georgie said, removing her jacket. "Here, have this, at least. We'll find you something to wear from my closet when we get back to Heartland."

Jade took off her own black denim jacket and folded it aside before taking Georgie's jacket. Her skin had goose bumps. "Thanks. Good thing we're about the same size."

She felt weird wearing something she had seen Georgie wear so many times, especially because it had her scent on it, but it was warm and it felt good on her compared to the scratching surface of her wet jacket, so she didn't really care that it wasn't her own.

"Yeah," Georgie agreed, also feeling strange as she watched Jade in her deep purple bomber jacket. In a way, it made her feel kind of nice, because not only did Jade rock pretty much everything she put own and it was kind of funny to see her in something she wouldn't usually consider her style (to Georgie, she looked kind of softer that way), but also it made Georgie feel like something from her life had spilled on Jade's. "Okay, let's go then."

"I'll just put my boots back on," Jade said.

Georgie nodded and went to collect the horses. The trail ride had been cut short, but at least it was better than nothing. Jade was hurt and she really needed dry clothes so she wouldn't get sick, so that was all that mattered. Still, Georgie worried about the horses. Phoenix, especially, got restless in his stall when he didn't get enough exercise. Maybe she'd lunge him later, or something.

Jade put her boots on her and took her wet jacket with her. She shoehorned it to the saddle bag before Georgie handed her the reins.

"Do you need a leg-up?" Georgie asked as she worried about Jade's ability to move now.

"Sure," Jade said. "Thanks."

Georgie helped Jade back to the saddle and then walked to Phoenix so she could swing on top of Phoenix. Not too long after that, they were good to go.


	4. Chapter 4

"Yup, that's going to bruise…" Georgie heard Jade mutter while she herself was going through her closet, trying to find something to wear for her friend who was in front of her full-length mirror, checking the injuries of her fall to the stream.

Georgie grabbed her a top, a pair of jeans, a plaid shirt and new pair of socks to wear so she could get home and get something of her own to wear.

"Good thing you didn't cut anything open," Georgie said as she turned around and came to hand the clothes over. "The socks are new. You can just keep them."

"Thanks," Jade said, accepting the clothes and putting them aside so she could take off her wet top. It was the only thing she was wearing along her underwear which made Georgie feel a little weird. She looked away and let her friend get dressed privately. Jade noticed her not-so-discreet gesture. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Georgie said, glancing at the posters on her while to distract herself.

Jade was not convinced. She put on her top while thinking about it. "Does it bother you that I'm half naked?"

"No, it's not that," Georgie mumbled. "Or well, it's not what you think."

"Oh yeah?" Jade asked. "And what am I thinking?"

Georgie blushed a little. She felt there was way too much room for misinterpretation, so she tried her best to explain. "It's just… you're so comfortable with yourself. I don't know, it makes me feel… scared, somehow."

She realized it was a weird thing to be scared of, but something about Jade's confidence intimidated her because she couldn't level with her on this.

Jade frowned. "Well… yeah. It's not really something I think about," she admitted. Besides, there was nothing weird about changing clothes in front of her friend. Maybe if it had been someone else, she might have felt different.

"So you've always been like that?" Georgie asked and turned toward Jade a little now that she was more dressed. "I just can't imagine being like that…"

"Well, not always, but these days, I mostly am. I mean, it depends who I'm with. I didn't feel comfortable being in those daisy dukes in front of that gross sponsor," Jade said. Georgie could recall the story about the situation where Caleb had assisted Jade to prove the guy that he was being extremely sexist by making Jade wear something she didn't want to wear. It had made her feel bad for her friend, even though thankfully things had worked out in Jade's favor in the end. "But with you, for example, it's like… why would I care, you know."

Georgie nodded. Jade's reasoning made sense, but for some reason she couldn't imagine feeling the same way. Jade noticed her absence.

"How did you feel around Adam…?" Jade asked, because teens usually came face to face things like this in their first relationships. "About stuff like that."

"We never…" Georgie stuttered, feeling like she was completely red in the face, "we always had our clothes on, so…"

It had been really innocent with him, mostly just kissing, but never anything more than that. That would have been something Georgie didn't feel ready for, and thankfully Adam had never even suggested anything more than just kissing and hand-holding.

Jade nodded. She had not expected that - not that she really thought about what Georgie and Adam had done - but she was just trying to help Georgie to understand herself better. She wanted to encourage Georgie to feel comfortable in her own skin.

"So are you like that with everyone?"

"I don't know…" Georgie admitted. "I guess I haven't really… thought about it until now."

"Why do you think you're so uncomfortable with it?" Jade asked, sitting on Georgie's bed and putting the socks on.

"Maybe because I'm afraid what people might think about my body, or something," Georgie figured, shrugging. Even though it was hard to talk about this topic overall, for some reason she could always talk to Jade about anything. "That I look weird, somehow."

She had been bullied about her appearance in the past and that had probably left its mark on her. Not to mention, it had only been recently that she had somewhat accepted more girly things into her wardrobe after seeing there wasn't anything scary about dresses after all. It made her feel a little silly to think that she had once believed that somehow being a girl wasn't something to be proud of.

Jade nodded. She figured it was what a lot of other teenagers thought, too. "Do you think you look weird?"

"Well, no. I guess. I mean, I don't really know how I'm supposed to look like." Georgie scoffed a little. "Mostly I just try to think that as long as I can ride and do tricks with my body, it's a good enough for me."

"Sounds good to me. I mean, as long as you feel good about yourself, who cares what other people think about you," Jade shared what she had learned. "People will always have something to say about you and everyone thinks they are supposed to look like the people in magazines, but the reality is, no one looks like that."

"Yeah, I know," Georgie said. "Still… it's kind of hard to shake that thought. I don't know, I just have this feeling like… people expect more from me the older I get. Or maybe I just wasn't aware of that before and now I am."

Jade got up and put on the jeans.

"That's just something we gotta learn; to realize that everyone else is actually just like us and no one is better than the rest when it comes to this. Everyone looks different and that's just how it is. – And, if you're worried about boys, then don't be. If they don't think you are beautiful as you are, then they don't deserve you," Jade added. She could recall having a conversation like this with Georgie before, but that time it had been about Stephen.

Georgie smiled a little, but something deep inside made her wonder about that. Could she ever be truly accepted as she was…?


	5. Chapter 5

Later that night, after dinner, lunging the horses and brushing her teeth, Georgie went to her own room. It was usually the time when she checked her social media one more time before going to bed, and tonight was no exception.

After changing into her night wear, Georgie sat down on her chair and opened her laptop. At first, she was surprised to see Sam's pictures still open, but then she remembered that it was how she had left the computer before leaving with Jade. Looking at the pictures still made her feel weird, but she no longer felt the need to stare at them or re-read the comments, so she closed the window and browsed her feeds for a while before she saw updates she had already seen before, so she turned off the laptop and went to the bed.

While giving Remi a kiss on the top of her head and pulling on her covers, Georgie kept thinking about all the things she had talked with Jade today. It felt like a lot of things were hovering in the air and it would take time for her to really deal with them.

As she took her phone to put on the alarm, Georgie noticed a notification from Adam and checked what picture he had added on Instagram.

The boy had uploaded a picture of Olivia kissing his cheek while he had a big, pearly-white grin on his face. Georgie knew that they were together now, not only because he had told her so, but also from all the pictures Olivia posted about them on her social media platforms. Adam had kind of been just a passenger in the relationship so far, it seemed, but this was the first time he had posted any pictures of them together, so it felt like some kind of turning point for Georgie.

Adam was proud to be with Olivia, so it probably meant he was officially over her.

Even though it had been her who had broken things with Adam, Georgie still felt bad. They were still somewhat friends, but not like they had been before. Georgie had just figured it had been part of the breaking up process, but truth be told, she didn't really know if it had been as this had been her first relationship with anyone and she was still learning how dating worked.

Maybe Adam had already been interested in Olivia right after their break-up and that's why he had not had any time for her.

Adam had been her first kiss and Georgie still cared about him deeply. She wasn't sure if that had been love, because she didn't really know how romantic love was supposed to feel. Amy had just said "you just knew it", but that had been no help at all.

Feeling sad and even somewhat bitter over Adam's happiness while she was still collecting the pieces from the break-up, Georgie decided to turn off the notifications from Adam. She didn't want to unfriend him because she still wanted to keep him as a friend, just not that close because she didn't need reminders of how easy she was to get over.

After that, Georgie put on her alarm, but couldn't shake the thought about kind of feeling something for Adam, but not being sure if it had been love. Had she gotten her heart broken? Yes. Did that mean it had been love? She didn't know.

Even though it felt like kind of a dumb question, Georgie decided to search the answer from the internet. All kinds of explanations about love came up, things that she had not even realized love could be about, but in the end, they were just as unhelpful as Amy's "you just know".

Georgie wondered if she was somehow broken. Why had she not felt these things for Adam that all the other people had apparently felt for their first loves? Adam had been a nice guy - up until he had become super jealous about Clay without any reason - so what was the problem? He was supposed to be lovable and it seemed like Olivia somehow knew how to love him even though she was, well, Olivia.

Had she never learned how to love? But she did love her family and Phoenix, she knows she did, but in a way you loved your family. Was she incapable of having romantic feelings for anyone?

Georgie wrote another question to the search engine.

 _"Why didn't I love my boyfriend?"_

There were all kinds of answers.

 _"You didn't love him, you loved the idea of him."_

 _"The best relationships aren't always with your best friend."_

 _"Maybe you're not straight."_

Georgie froze.

 _"Maybe you're not straight."_

But… she would know about that, too? Right?

Wasn't that just another case of "you just knew"?

Immediately, Georgie thought back to what Jade had said. How could she know if she hadn't tried it? At least then she'd know she didn't want it, if nothing else?

The thought made Georgie sweat. Something about it made her feel wrong and she wasn't sure why. She didn't have a problem with gay people, and now, even Jade had said she was bisexual and she didn't have a problem with that, but somehow the thought of being not-straight herself made her feel sick.

Georgie put her phone away and tried to ignore everything she had just read.

Why was she so focused on the part that said "Maybe you're not straight" when there had been other options like "You didn't love him, you loved the idea of him" and "The best relationships aren't always with your best friends". Those two were definitely possibilities she could explore while trying to make sense of this all. She could just dismiss the third one, because she would know if that was the case. Surely, she would know.

I mean, everyone else was pretty much in a relationship, so maybe she had liked the idea of being in a relationship too. But then it turned out that she had just wanted to be friends with Adam, like intensely, but not in a way that would make them be in a relationship because apparently, it just didn't work. It was confusing to make out what she had felt, but at least now, out of the relationship, she knew that she just wanted to be friends with Adam.

Sometimes relationships with your best friends aren't always the best ones, that's what the internet had said, and it seemed it to be true.

None of this nonsense about not being straight. She would have known about that, like Jade knew, and she would have been okay with it, like she was…

While these thoughts went round and round in her head, Georgie fell into a restless sleep. Somehow it all had bled into her dream state too; in her dream, she was looking at Adam and Olivia kissing and felt this almost rage-like feeling building up inside. Her mind kept telling her that she didn't like looking at them because she didn't like looking at Adam with someone else.

But in her heart, she knew.

She knew it was about Olivia.

She was jealous of Adam because he could kiss her and not even care what anyone else thought.

When her alarm started beeping the next morning, Georgie couldn't have been more happy to wake up, even if it was 6 am. She could feel her head being heavy and her body shivering even though it wasn't even that cold in her room.

The feeling of the dream still lingered, and Georgie felt guilty again. It had been just a dream, right? Dreams were always weird. It's not like she could really fly, even though she did that a lot in her dreams. So, there was no connections to the real life in dreams, they were just weird combinations of the brain trying to rewire itself during night.

At least that's what she tried to tell herself when her feet hit the floor that morning and she went on about her day.


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't know, Georgie..." Amy said when she and Georgie were in the ring, going through Georgie's suggestions for a trick she would perform to impress Natalie so she could become the new Extreme Team headliner. They had been warming up with Checkers, but now it was time to move to the next part. "The Cherokee Drag... that's pretty advanced."

"Oh, come on," Georgie scoffed, "I've done all kind of tricks that you thought I couldn't pull off; the full saddle layover, the death drag, even the tail drag. This is the natural next step."

"Maybe I should consult Sandra about this before we try anything," Amy figured. The trick was no joke, she knew; in order for Georgie to do it right, she would have to have her hair and arms pulled across the ground while she clings onto the horse with her legs. "Let's just try something simple now."

"Do you think something simple will get me the place of a headliner?" Georgie responded with evident frustration. She was full of ambition and something simple wouldn't do. "If I don't do something that will make Natalie's jaw drop, I'm never going to get to the next level!"

"I didn't say no yet, I'm just saying that we need to talk to Sandra first," Amy corrected, making calming motions with her hands. "I'm glad to help you, but I'm not a professional at this, so I need to make sure we'll get this right. When we are training, you're my responsibility."

"Fine... Just- we don't have much time," the younger girl reminded nervously. "Olivia's probably way ahead of me with this... She's the one I need to beat. - Stupid school... If I didn't have any more classes, I would have more time to train."

"Hey, school first," Amy reminded. "I promised Lou that while she's in New York, I would make sure the training wouldn't interfere with that. Also, the horses need breaks too, you know. You can't train too much or it'll only break all of you. No matter how much Olivia makes you tick, you can't let her get to you. Besides, this should be fun."

Sometimes Georgie let Olivia push her buttons for too far, so Amy needed to make sure that this wouldn't result in something she had witnessed with them when they had competed in show jumping; physical violence.

For some reason, no matter what Georgie seemed to do, Olivia would always follow. Amy didn't know if Olivia got some kind of satisfaction from trying to beat Georgie in everything, but that wasn't really her and Georgie's problem to solve. What Amy needed to make sure was that Georgie wouldn't let Olivia get under her skin because that was probably exactly what the girl wanted. Georgie needed to do her best and try to ignore Olivia and her presence as much as she could so she could get where she wanted without distractions.

"Why don't we start with the full saddle layover to see if you have enough strength," Amy suggested. "If you can do that without getting too tired, we might think about the Cherokee Drag. If not, you might need to add more push-ups, abdominal work and cardio to your training."

Georgie was defeated. She knew Amy had her best interest in mind, but it still made her mad to just think that if she wouldn't land the role of a headliner, Olivia would be smirking down to her from the throne.

Ever since her strange dream, Olivia had bothered her more than usual, whether Georgie liked to admit it or not. It was almost like the memory of it was haunting her and Olivia's face was reminding her about this huge shame that she carried within and tried to hide. Somehow Georgie figured that if she could beat Olivia - metaphorically, this time - she would be able to break free and prove that there was nothing she would have to worry about.

Georgie pressed her heels on Checkers' sides and started trotting around the pen. Meanwhile Amy kept an eye on her, watching as she prepared for the trick. When it felt right for the trot to turn into a gallop, Georgie signalled the horse to pick up the pace. That's when she started to get more mobile in the saddle.

It was important for her to trust Checkers and know the way he moved in order for her to do the trick right. When she had started trick-riding, a full saddle layover was something she had been very impressed by, but now that she was more advanced, it was one of her go-to tricks that she could probably do in her sleep. That's why Amy suggesting it was almost as if some form of mocking to her, because it was so easy for her to do - and she didn't want easy. Georgie wanted a challenge where she could prove everyone that she was more than they thought her to be.

That's why Cherokee Drag would be ideal.

When Georgie had her left foot in the air and the right foot closer to the saddle to keep the balance, she held onto the saddle horn tightly and let her body position itself to the right angle. The colorful ribbons in the pen flashed by as her head was pointing down and she was moving along to Checkers' gallop. After a while, she pushed herself back to the saddle and geared the horse to Amy.

"Alright, so you can do it without problems," Amy was convinced before Georgie even had to say anything. "How's your upper body and abdomen? Feeling it?"

"Yeah, but it's not too bad," Georgie brushed it off.

Amy nodded, feeling like she needed to challenge Georgie even more so she could prove to her that Cherokee Drag was not going to be as easy as she thought.

"Okay. Then show me a backward fender."

"Are you joking?" Georgie asked, her voice full of attitude. "You know that I know how to do that."

"Look, I want you to try these tricks because I think they will help you with the Cherokee Drag", Amy schooled her, not liking Georgie's tone. "Yes, I know you can do a backward fender, I've seen you do it. This isn't about you proving me, it's about proving your body that it had what it takes for you to do the Cherokee Drag. In it, you're going to bend even lower than before and it might not be easy to get up. We just need to make sure that your body can do the basics before it can reach for something bigger."

"But I'm going to be tired before we can even attempt the Cherokee Drag!" Georgie worried. The tricks she did were easy, but they always took a little toll on her, especially if she did trick after trick.

"You seriously didn't think that we would just try and learn the Cherokee Drag in one day?" Amy tried to knock Georgie's confidence down few knots to keep her humble. "That's not going to happen, even with the best riders. We will be taking it slow, build the trick up over time, because if we rush it, you're only going to get yourself hurt. And I don't need to remind you that if you're hurt, you'll have no chances to perform."

"Fine," Georgie muttered eventually. She hated being restricted like this, but she knew that she needed help with the trick if she wanted to get it right, and Amy was her best bet. She steered Checkers back to the course so she could do the backward fender and prove her body that she was ready for something bigger.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day at school, Georgie was walking to Lou's SUV that she had permission to use for driving herself around while Lou was in New York. She was lost in thought while thinking she should have had to flex more yesterday after her practice with Amy, when she heard Adam's voice.

"Hey," the boy said, leaning on his vehicle just as Georgie was getting her keys out. She looked around, noticing Adam parked next to her.

"Hey," she replied, putting the keys back to her pocket and then walking to other side of the SUV so she didn't have to talk over the car. "What are you doing here?" Georgie asked as Adam no longer went to their school as he had graduated last spring with great grades.

"Just picking up Olivia," Adam explained, looking somewhat coy about it.

Georgie nodded. "Right. Of course…"

There was an awkward pause between them when neither of them knew how to continue from there. They had not really talked with one another lately which made the situation even more awkward as it felt like there should have been a lot that they should have talked about but they didn't.

"So… how's that going?" Georgie finally asked. She could sense Adam was probably fearing her opinion about it, because he had gotten together with Olivia pretty soon after his break-up with her. But Georgie was there to prove that she was kind of over it already, and if Adam was happy, then everything was like it was supposed to be.

"Good. We're good," Adam said.

Even though Georgie didn't let their dating get to her, it was still weird that Adam referred to him and Olivia as "we," because before it used to mean her and Adam.

"That's good," Georgie replied. "I'm glad you've found it each other."

Despite Georgie's sincere tone, Adam had his doubts, probably because of some issues of his own. "Really…? I know you don't really like Olivia–"

"Well, that's an understatement," Georgie said without thinking. Adam hesitated which made her feel bad, because this was not helping the case. "But that's fine. I mean, it's your relationship. If you like her, why would it matter to me."

"I just want you to know that…" Adam tried to explain himself, "I really liked you too. And me being with Olivia now… it's not something I planned to happen. It just happened. I guess she kind of helped me get back on my feet. I know us breaking up is on me and I'm ashamed of it. What I did wasn't right."

"There was nothing for you to worry about," Georgie wanted to set straight once and for all, even if it didn't even matter anymore. "Nothing happened with Clay. He was a jerk."

"I know. I guess I just lost it because I was so jealous and I didn't know how to handle that, I mean, you were my first girlfriend and I didn't want to lose you, but I guess it's almost ironic that I ended up losing you anyway," Adam explained. "But that's no excuse. Anyway. I'm sorry for what happened."

"Thanks for apologizing," Georgie replied.

Even if they were no longer together, on some level Georgie still thought of Adam as a friend and didn't want him to have this doubt in him in case they ever decided to get closer again. It probably wouldn't happen for a while though, especially with Olivia in the picture, but Georgie liked to keep her options open.

"Well, well, well," Olivia's voice cut their conversation short. "Are you here to steal my boyfriend?" She had her usual snide tone in her voice as she walked over to them, holding her books.

Georgie immediately felt her insides flaring up as soon as she saw Olivia and her smirk. She bit her tongue, but wanted to say something anyway. "Here I thought that's what you do."

Olivia snorted. "He wasn't with you anymore, so…" She positioned her other hand possessively over Adam who looked like he had no interest playing a part in this scenario.

Georgie wanted to say something about Olivia always going for her leftovers, but she respected Adam more than that to say anything out loud. "You might be with him, but watch me take the headliner position."

"Really?" Olivia was intrigued. "And what trick are you going to pull?"

"Something you couldn't even dream of doing", Georgie responded.

She wasn't going to tell Olivia anything, because when she had done that in the past during her weakest moment, Olivia had had no shame in stealing her trick for her performance to impress Sandra and other coaches.

"I guess we'll see about that," Olivia said, not looking like she was too worried. "Not to brag, but my parents hired me a private coach and she's a trick-riding elite. If I were you, I would practice my loosing face in front of a mirror."

Georgie's nostrils heaved as she tried to keep calm. "I don't want you to bother your pretty little head about that, because when I win, I want to see your genuine reaction just so I can replay it in my head at every event I ever go to."

"Okay, seriously," Adam tried to play a peace maker and stepped between the two girls so things wouldn't escalate even further, "you both should just chill a little. You're scarily competitive."

"She's the crazy one," Olivia tried to convince her boyfriend but he didn't look too sure about that. "Anyway. Let's go. I have a practice to go to." Adam followed Olivia to the other side of the car and opened a door for her.

Meanwhile Georgie got back to fishing her keys from her pocket and walking to her vehicle. She was annoyed because of Olivia, so she would probably need to cool off a little before she began to drive, just so nothing bad would come out of it.

When she was sat on the driver's seat and she heard Adam turning the engine on in his car, Georgie looked to his direction. She wasn't sure if she was happy for Adam after all, it seemed like maybe he was caught in some kind of trap with Olivia. What she should have felt was more sad for him.


	8. Chapter 8

Georgie was sat on Checkers' saddle while Amy was doing another safety check on her tack. She had done that already three times before even mounting, but her aunt wanted to be sure that there was no risk of Georgie hurting herself if they were going to try the Cherokee Drag.

"Okay..." Amy said finally. "Why don't you lean back sideways on the saddle and I will help you get all the way down so your head and arms will touch the ground." She looked at her niece with concern. "If you can do this while Checkers is standing, we will try it when he's moving."

Georgie nodded and felt determination. She had been training her abdomen even harder now that she really wanted to nail this trick and this was the time for her to show that it was possible.

With a slow, shift move, Georgie turned halfway on the saddle and made sure her right leg hang onto the loop on the right side of it. A lot depended on that little grip that would allow her to bend over the saddle to the other side.

"Ready?" Georgie checked.

"Ready," Amy confirmed, ready to catch her.

Georgie started to bend backwards slowly while Amy made sure she wouldn't do it too fast and hurt herself in the process. It was important to keep the movements steady, even now when they weren't moving, not to mention when Checkers was galloping in the pen. Georgie had to be aware of the horse's hooves at all times and make sure that they would never get too close to her head that would be touching the ground.

"Easy, easy..." Amy reminded Georgie as she stretched her body deeper and deeper.

Georgie could feel her spine flexing and right thigh getting warmer as she was asking more from her body the lower she got. Slowly but surely, she bent her left leg back, so it would help her to arch her back around Checkers' side.

"Nearly there..." Amy told her as Georgie's hands tried grasping for something above her head.

When she felt the dirt on the tip of her fingers, Georgie's face lit up. She relaxed her shoulders and let herself hang a little more loosely. If she was stiff while Checkers was moving, she was going to bounce more than was good for her.

"Great job!" Amy praised, stepping back a little and making sure the position was right. "Okay, now, I will help you get up. Then you can get down on your own and we will try walking Checkers while you're down. That sound alright?"

"Yeah," Georgie said, hearing the blood rushing to her head.

Amy stepped back and helped Georgie push her body back to the saddle so she could try getting back down again. The girl had no problem getting back to the saddle which also made Amy feel a little bit better because it gave her more faith to go further with this.

"Okay," Amy said, walking toward Checkers' front side. She took a gentle grip on his reins, but kept her eyes on her niece. "Now, I will start walking Checkers slowly and whenever you feel like you're ready, I want you to lower yourself like you just did, so you can get a feel of what it's like to do the trick when the horse is moving. Again, whenever you're ready, don't rush it," she pressed before getting a nod from Georgie and giving the horse a signal to move.

When they had taken few steps on the track, Georgie prepared herself mentally. She now knew she could do it, so it was all about repeating what had just happened - only this time with no help from Amy, but that was going to be the challenge. The speed wasn't that fast, but Checkers moving under her still made things different. Georgie went through the steps inside her mind and positioned herself so that she could start bending backward.

Amy kept her eyes on Georgie as the girl stretched her body backward. It looked like Georgie was struggling a bit, but she worked her way through it and tried to not let it show. When Georgie's hands were touching the dirt again, she gave herself permission to relax a bit so she wouldn't exhaust the body too much.

"Okay, that's great," Amy congratulated. "Now... when you are ready, I want you to try to help yourself up, back to the saddle. Do you think you can do that?"

"Y-yeah," Georgie said, feeling the blood rushing back to her head even more heavily this time. She didn't really hear much of what Amy was saying next, as she tensed her muscles so she could pull herself up and her focus went into the physical feat. All Georgie could hear was her breathing when she tried to reach her arms toward her knees and then give her upper body a push to get back up.

The next thing she knew was feeling like her side would have ripped open and then seeing nothing but darkness as she screamed in agony.

* * *

"Mom, I'm fine," Georgie said as she spoke with Lou on her phone as she and Amy made their way out of the hospital from a check-up. "I'm a little sore, but I'll be fine. I just pulled a muscle."

Amy had been quick to help Georgie to a doctor to make sure that she as okay, but even though the diagnosis had not been as bad as they had thought, she still worried about her niece. Not to mention, she knew what this would mean for Georgie's training; that was going to be harder to deal with than the pain in her side.

"Thank god... What happened?" Lou asked. She had just gotten some information from Amy about her being in the hospital with Georgie and telling her they would call as soon as Georgie had been checked.

"I was trying out this new trick," Georgie informed her mother, not feeling like talking about it, but she knew she couldn't just not tell her anything because she would freak out even more. "I guess I had been training my abdomen too much and I wasn't strong enough to pull myself back up. At least that's what the doctors said. Now I can't ride for few days."

"Well, you gotta rest, honey," Lou worried. "I know you're probably dying to get back to the saddle, but you have to give it a time or it'll get worse."

"I know, I know," Georgie replied, sighing. She tried to swallow her disappointment because not being able to train for few days meant she wasn't able to train enough for the try-outs which meant that she wasn't able to do it at all because no basic trick would do if she wanted to be a headliner.

"Okay... well, let me know how you'll holding up later, okay?" Lou said on the other end. "I love you. Be careful."

"I will. Love you too. Bye," Georgie said before she ended the call.

She looked outside the window and sighed. Amy looked at her niece with concern but quickly brought her eyes back to the road. "There will always be next time. The good thing about this is that next year, you'll be one of your group's best, for sure."

"But I really wanted to be picked now..." Georgie insisted.

"I know, but... There's nothing you can do. I'm sorry, Georgie. I really am."

Georgie wasn't really in the mood for it now, so she just kept to herself and sighed again. "Yeah..." Olivia had already won. Again.


	9. Chapter 9

The school year was coming to an end, and Georgie had tried her best to avoid Olivia while going to classes. After quitting trick-riding, Georgie had heard through other sources that Olivia had been made into a headliner, just like she had predicted, and she was gloating because of it.

Georgie was already feeling bad enough as it was because of her failed attempt and she didn't need Olivia to rub it to her face any more than she already somehow was able to without even being in her presence. So, when the school was finally out, Georgie couldn't have been more ready to spend the summer focusing on not being scared of running into Olivia all the time.

"You know what we should do tonight?" Jade asked when they were closing up at Maggie's. Georgie had been lost in her thoughts, as usual, but her friend was determined to pull her out of her head.

"What?" Georgie asked, restocking the cups so they would be ready again for the customers tomorrow morning.

"We should go to the quarry," Jade suggested. "I heard there will be a party tonight. Avery said she was going, too."

"Isn't that like... the place were people will go to make out and stuff...?" Georgie asked, unsure which quarry Jade was referring to. The only one she knew was from the conversations of other people and it was a place where teens had their first taste of alcohol, hooked up and jumped into the water to swim. Georgie had never been there herself as she really had not have a reason to go, not to mention no one had ever even asked her there.

"Well yeah, but... I'll be with you. We'll just have fun. Forget all about Olivia and everything else," Jade said.

Georgie got somehow alerted. Her brows jumped up because it was almost as if Jade had read her mind. "What makes you think I was even thinking about Olivia...?"

"Well, it's kind of obvious. You've been acting weird ever since you quit the Extreme Team," Jade shared her detective work. "Not to mention whenever Olivia's come to the diner, you've escaped to the kitchen or the bathroom. I'm not dumb, I know something's going on."

"Nothing's going on," Georgie got defensive, "I just... I hate that she got to be the headliner, and I didn't."

"Okay, I get it. I get being competitive," Jade said, walking to the counter after she was done putting the chairs up on the table. "But is that all that's been bothering you?"

Georgie looked Jade in the eyes and as soon as they made eye contact, she could have sworn Jade was somehow able to already know the answer to her question.

"Yeah. That's all," Georgie said, looking down as quickly as she could. She knew she wasn't probably very convincing, so she decided to add more to the explanation. "And I guess school's just been stressing me out too."

"Then we should definitely go to the quarry, it's the perfect way to forget all about that," Jade decided for both of them. "Oh, and you should wear your swim suit under your clothes, we might be going for a swim."

Georgie didn't feel that comfortable doing that, but at the same time Jade seemed like she knew what she was talking about. Maybe this was what she was meant to be doing to get her mind off of things, trying new things and going out of her comfort zone.

* * *

When they got to the quarry that night, a lot of people were already there. Someone had built a little fire pit and people were sat around it, drinking alcohol and having a good time. Others were walking around, getting something to drink and going for a swim.

When Georgie watched all of them behind the steering wheel, she couldn't even make out who was who. All of them were just dark silhouettes. She wasn't sure if this was socially scary or just what she needed to get the people from school off her mind. For a small place like Hudson, there sure were lot of people she didn't know.

"Avery just texted back, she said she's by 'the bar'," Jade informed her. Georgie looked at Jade, trying to focus. Something about this place made her nervous, but at the same time she was curious to see how other people were letting loose. Maybe she could use some tips.

"The bar...?" Georgie repeated with a confused tone. "There's a bar here...?"

"Well, kind of," Jade said, then showing her a picture of a truck that had few barrels of beer and bottles of other alcoholic beverages on it. "Not an official one, but it'll do."

"Okay... So is that where we should go?" Georgie asked, trying to learn from Jade how she was supposed to behave in a situation like this.

Jade nodded. "Yeah, we can get started from there."

"Let me just text Jack first, tell him we got to "your trailer"," Georgie said.

She then pulled out her phone and bit her lip. She had lied to Jack about where they were going because he would have never let her go if she had told him the truth. He would also never found out, because as far as he knew, she was just going for a sleepover at Jade's and be back tomorrow morning.

"I have a better idea," Jade said, taking Georgie's phone and opening the front camera. "We'll just send him a picture. Takes less time, but is more convincing. Say cheese!"

Georgie looked up and smiled little when Jade snapped the picture of them together. When Jade was done, she handed the phone back to her and unbuckled her seat belt. Georgie send the picture to Jack so he would know that she was with Jade and he had no reason to worry. Even though Jade had said the picture would do, Georgie decided to attach the text "At the trailer, see you tomorrow!" with it.

"You done?" Jade asked when she opened her jacket and revealed her bikini under it.

Georgie looked at her and wondered if that was what was expected of her too. She was fine wearing her swimming suit underneath and then go to the water as fast as she could, but she wasn't going to flaunt it casually like that. Hopefully that was okay.

"Yeah, just a minute," Georgie stuttered and sent Jack the text. She decided not to do what Jade had done, because she didn't feel comfortable showing off so much skin, even with the jacket on. "Okay, we can go."

They stepped outside the truck, and Georgie locked the doors before they got together again in front of the truck. Jade scanned the area, trying to find the truck that had been in Avery's photo.

"Let me just ask someone about the bar," Jade finally decided because it was next to impossible to see anything in the dim light of the summer evening as there were so many trucks present. "Hey, do you know where the bar is?" she asked from the first person who walked past them.

The guy took a good look at Jade before replying. "That way."

He pointed somewhere.

Georgie walked closer to Jade, feeling kind of protective of her even though she knew her frame wasn't very intimidating. Maybe if the guy saw that Jade wasn't here alone, he would act differently.

"Okay, thanks," Jade said, before turning to Georgie. "This way."

Luckily, the guy went on his way, and they continued the search with just the two of them. They stumbled through the uneven ground and dodged people as they made their way to the truck where Avery was waiting for them and handing over beer to people in the line.

"Avery!" Jade caught her attention. When the other girl heard her name, she turned around and went in for a hug with Jade.

"Jade! You made it!"

Georgie had heard a lot about Avery, but they had not been officially introduced to each other. All she knew about Avery was that she was another girl kicking ass just like Jade, and the cowgirls had done some bulldogging together lately. At first Jade had not liked Avery that much, but as soon as she had realized Avery was not trying to replace her, they had teamed up and become more friendly.

"Hey, you must be Georgie," Avery said then, breaking off from the hug and smiling at her. Georgie nodded, somewhat weirded out about how much Avery resembled Jade. They both had long dark hair, thick eyebrows and long eyelashes, paired up with a kind smile.

"Yeah, that's me..." Georgie confirmed. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise. Jade's been talking about you a lot," Avery said. While she talked, Georgie couldn't help but notice how soft voice she had, one could have said it was very soothing.

"She has...?" Georgie wondered what had been said about her. She felt pretty confident about her place in Jade's life but for a second, while watching them hug, she had been somewhat jealous of their friendship - and she wasn't even sure why. She was friends with Jade too, so why did it even matter that she had other friends as well? It wasn't like Jade was Georgie's only friend, either.

"All good things", Avery assured her, but not really remembering much of the details. She just knew Jade was close with Georgie. "Hey, do you guys want drinks? I have beer but also other stuff in case you're in the mood for that."

"Yeah, sure. I'll have a beer. - Georgie?" Jade asked, turning to face her.

"Uh... what else do you got?" Georgie asked, figuring she probably wouldn't like beer. She had never tried it, but the smell alone made her sick.

"Alcopop?" Avery guessed. Georgie didn't look like she was ready to shoot whiskey.

"Oh yeah, she'll like it," Jade answered for her. Georgie looked at her, not sure if she would, but she tried to trust Jade's judgement. After all, she knew her taste pretty well.

"Alcopop it is," Avery said before she disappeared to get Georgie her drink.

Jade smiled at Georgie, seeing how she was somewhat nervous. "It'll help you loosen up."

* * *

 _A/N: There's going to be a little hiatus with my writings as I'll be travelling for the next two weeks. I'll get back to writing after that, so don't worry, the story's not ended even though there won't be updates for a while!_


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